Debuted right after graduating from high school

While waiting for Feng Ying'er to arrive, Fan Wumian sat alone in a street-side cafe, lost in thought about other things.

Many things that are rumored to be miraculous are nothing special once you figure them out.

Like Bill Gates' family office "Cascades Investments," which has gone to great lengths over the years, ostensibly making a lot of money for Bill Gates, who is still the world's richest man, the reality is that if Gates hadn't sold those Microsoft shares, he could have made even more, now and in the future.

His family office was involved in gradually replacing high-potential stocks with junk stocks, a situation that left people both amused and bewildered.

Warren Buffett's management team, relying on their abundant funds and Buffett's brand effect, simply selects some promising stocks with good fundamentals to nurture, and likes to buy low and sell high in line with the dollar's fluctuations.

The fact that Buffett doesn't invest in internet technology stocks is enough to show that this old stock market guru, like many of the older generation, is slowly becoming out of touch with the times, and his thinking is traditional and conservative.

Berkshire Hathaway's stock price rose 18.4% last year, and is expected to grow by only about 10% this year. Compared to many traditional businesses, this is already quite good. However, if Buffett were to invest his more than $2700 billion in Silicon Valley, specifically in those leading stocks, it could easily become four or five trillion dollars in a decade or so.

However, although the old stock market guru didn't understand it, he didn't make any reckless moves. With his reputation and wealth, he only needed to seek stability and didn't need to take any more risks, which can also be considered a kind of wisdom.

In contrast, Li Ka-shing announced last year that he would donate one-third of his total net worth, or about $130 billion, to his foundation. As a shrewd businessman, his purpose was nothing more than to avoid taxes and make it easier to pass on more wealth to his descendants.

Chinese people value keeping their wealth hidden, which may also be partly due to the consideration of "deliberately reducing the total amount of assets on the surface." Otherwise, with such a snowballing effect, Li Ka-shing's actual total assets would probably approach $2000 billion in more than ten years.

Fan Wumian's rise to power was so rapid that it has been the subject of constant controversy. Some say he is the illegitimate son of the four major wealthy families, while others speculate that he is just a "puppet" used by others to launder money.

These conspiracy theories have spread, and quite a few people have actually believed them. Today, I'm taking this opportunity to film a reality show and show everyone around, mainly to dispel some of the doubts from the outside world, and also to promote the Tai Kwun project.

The acquisition of companies like Xinhua Insurance and United China Insurance a few months ago brought Fan Wumian a large sum of money. With nowhere to invest for the time being, he made advance arrangements for numerous real estate projects.

Gangcheng Grand Hotel is just one example. In addition, through financing companies such as Wanda, SOHO China, Longhu, Greentown China, Hengda, and Wanke, it has indirectly invested in a number of residential and commercial real estate projects, including hotels, shopping malls, office buildings, and residences, which are located all over the country.

It is worth mentioning that Fan Wumian only holds shares in these companies, and ensures that his shareholding ratio does not exceed 5%. This way, he can easily wait for the stock price to rise to a certain high level, and then transfer his shares to cash out and leave the market.

During the first two months of its overseas expansion, Mori Building Co., Ltd., the leading company behind the Shanghai World Financial Center, was also impacted by the subprime mortgage crisis and chose to sell 70% of its shares in the Shanghai World Financial Center for 70 billion RMB.

Shortly after the project was launched in 1994, it was hit by the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and construction was halted for nearly five years. Shanghai officials were worried that this would affect the city's image, so they took the initiative to approach Fan Wumian for funding and offered some preferential policies to prevent the Shanghai World Financial Center building from being halted again.

Upon learning that the building would open next year, Fan Wumian ultimately acquired 70% of the shares held by Mori Building Co., Ltd. through Xinhua Insurance Group for RMB 65 billion, paying only RMB 20 billion in cash and taking out loans for the rest.

Due to the subprime mortgage crisis, valuations of core commercial real estate worldwide have generally been significantly discounted, affecting a number of projects under construction in mainland China.

After the news spread, many places hoped that he could lend a hand. Fan Wumian chose to provide financial support for projects such as Chang'an "Datang Everbright City", Yanjing "SKP Mall" and "Shanghai Global Harbor".

Since acquiring New China Life Insurance and United China Insurance, the two insurance companies have undergone restructuring and merger, resulting in a continuous surge in performance. While premiums have increased, significant expenses have been saved, allowing Fan Wumian to invest freely.

Taking money overseas to invest in high-risk projects is explicitly restricted by regulations, while investing in low-risk commercial real estate projects is legal and compliant, and there are no problems with it.

I used to worry about not having enough money to invest, but now the awkward thing is that I not only have a huge amount of liquid funds, but the scale of funds is also constantly increasing.

This was also the main reason that prompted Fan Wumian to start considering whether he needed to acquire a portion of Alibaba Group's equity.

If he continues to increase his stake in Tencent, the company will soon be privatized and delisted. Baidu's market value is inflated and its development prospects are limited. The entrepreneurial environment in other internet sectors is not mature enough. It seems that only Alibaba Group is worth investing in.

Funds from companies such as Mountain King (China Asset Management) Fund, Bosera Fund, and New China Life Insurance are trapped in the mainland market and cannot leave, so they can only look for suitable projects in the mainland.

The current situation is that the value of countless traditional enterprises is inflated, and they have not yet been impacted by the financial crisis. In recent months, the decline has been limited, and buying them in advance will only result in spending a lot of money unnecessarily.

Due to the uncertain outlook and the significant shrinkage of global assets, countless companies are busy selling off assets to prevent devaluation, making acquisitions and financing relatively easy to negotiate.

According to data investigated by Fan Wumian, Alibaba Group's overall valuation is currently around US$210 billion, significantly higher than that of Tencent. This is mainly due to its far more mature monetization model, which gives investors plenty of room for imagination regarding its business prospects.

The core B2B business, which is already listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has seen its market value fall from a high of $40 billion to around $260 billion. Subsidiaries such as Alipay, Taobao, Yahoo! China, and Alibaba Software were valued at $170 billion.

Back in August 2005, Yahoo invested $1 billion in cash, plus $700 million for all of Yahoo China's businesses, for a total of $17 billion, in exchange for a 40% stake in Alibaba Group. This stake was later diluted to approximately 39% due to Alibaba Group's financing.

In other words, the market value of Yahoo's shares is approximately $82 billion, and Fan Wumian could have scraped together that much money even without bank loans.

The problem lies in Alibaba's B2B business, which Fan Wumian believes is not worth $170 billion and will likely see its stock price plummet after the financial crisis.

Meanwhile, subsidiaries such as Jifubao and Taobao may experience a major boom next year, which will help offset the losses caused by the B2B business listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Since Fan Wumian was not clear about the specific situation and could not quite grasp the development trend of Alibaba Group in the next year or two, he was hesitant about whether to make a move.

Worried about wasting money and also concerned that Alibaba's shares would fall back to a reasonable price, Yahoo! Inc., which holds 39% of Alibaba's shares, was reluctant to sell them.

When Yahoo Group raised funds from Alibaba Group, it only paid a mere $17 billion, demonstrating its strong resilience.

A single misstep could cost an extra two or three billion dollars. Fan Wumian naturally believed that he should be more cautious. After much deliberation, he decided to wait and see for a few more months. His reasoning was that with central banks around the world releasing a flurry of positive news, the sentiment in the investment market was not pessimistic enough in the short term.

Against this backdrop, Yahoo's eccentric board members might be hoping for the best and not in a hurry to sell their Alibaba shares. Only when they clearly realize that "not selling now could leave them with a bad investment" will acquisition negotiations become much easier.
Last night, I received a notification from Fan Wumian in advance. This morning, Feng Ying'er dressed up carefully and put on makeup, and appeared in front of the camera looking beautiful.

The mainland guy in charge of filming lost his breathing the moment he saw Feng Ying'er.

The crowd watching from the roadside also exclaimed loudly, deeply amazed by her appearance and figure. Several young men stared intently, seemingly lost in thought, before finally sighing helplessly, realizing that she was the kind of woman they could never have.

Upon seeing Fan Wumian, Feng Ying'er deliberately pretended not to be very familiar with him, greeting him warmly with a bright smile:
"Boss~ Long time no see, what are you doing? Giving an interview to the newspaper?"

Fan Wumian never doubted her acting skills or emotional intelligence. He was initially attracted to her at first sight and took this "canary" under his wing. He never expected that the relationship would last until now.

I had already anticipated that Feng Ying'er would become popular.

After all, with her sex appeal and beauty, a few hype sessions would be enough to captivate countless young men. As a talented and beautiful woman with ample resources, as long as she doesn't make any mistakes, becoming famous would be incredibly easy for her.

Fan Wumian handed her the latte he had bought in advance, smiling as he said:
"Congratulations! You're becoming more and more famous. The company has arranged two big productions for you, 'The Witch' and 'Ghost Blows Out the Light.' It's not too much to ask you to treat me to a meal, is it?"

“I’m currently filming a reality show called ‘Walking with Fan Wumian.’ They just visited my home and company this morning, and I’ve been busy until now without having lunch.”

"The director won't let me use my credit card to spend money, so I have no choice but to ask you for donations."

Feng Ying'er feigned surprise and joked:

"Boss, it's easy for you to make money for food. Just pick up a guitar and busk on the street, and you can eat your fill of bird's nest and shark fin. Which director would dare not let you eat? They'd deduct his bonus at the end of the year."

Fan Wumian quickly spoke up:

"No demand, no killing. My family was too poor to ever taste shark fin. But I've heard that the decline in shark populations isn't due to our consumption of shark fin. Many foreign companies use shark meat to make canned goods and fertilizer, shark liver to make cod liver oil, shark skin to make shoes, and even cartilage to make health products."

“I see many people deliberately trying to pin the blame on us, thinking that fishermen only harvest shark fins. This is obviously not true. Most people have never even seen what shark fins look like in their entire lives, let alone eaten them.”

"The 'Tianjiu Wings' in Stephen Chow's 'The God of Cookery' are actually the fins of whale sharks and basking sharks. I don't understand why island nations catch so many whales every year. Their numbers are already very small. I've been adrift at sea for almost two months and have only seen one whale near the Maldives."

Feng Ying'er realized she had spoken carelessly and quickly explained:
"I haven't tried it either. Many ingredients are considered precious because they were difficult to catch in ancient times, like abalone, which has long been an overabundance in Australia."

This reality show, which is entirely Fan Wumian's own, has no script. He improvises and films whatever comes to mind.

Skipping over the topic of shark fins, Fan Wumian continued by asking:

"Do you have any restaurant recommendations? How about trying the beef offal hot pot in Yau Ma Tei? I used to go there occasionally with friends, but it's been a long time since I've had it."

Feng Ying'er smiled and said:
"Sure, it's an honor to treat you to dinner, boss. Is it alright if we just have beef offal hot pot? There's a newly opened French restaurant nearby, but it might not be open for lunch."

Fan Wumian replied:

"Let's stick with beef offal stew. Back then, those foreigners would grab anything, but they didn't know to grab some recipes to take back with them. I've tried French, British, German, and American food, but after eating them all, I found that Chinese food is still the best for me. Many white people's dishes look fancy, but after one bite, I don't want to eat a second bite."

Feng Ying'er couldn't stop smiling:
"Yes, I remember when I first moved to Australia with my parents, the school food was so bad that I almost cried. The first thing I did after returning to Hong Kong to study was to eat everywhere."

After arriving in Yau Ma Tei by car, I went back to my old house and strolled around downstairs, sharing some interesting stories from the past. During this time, I ran into some neighbors and greeted them briefly.

Afterwards, they continued by car to the restaurant. While waiting after ordering, Fan Wumian suddenly asked:

“I’ve seen a lot of gossip news saying that you used to like women? Don’t get me wrong, that’s your freedom. I’m just a little curious, and it’s also convenient for arranging work for you, like avoiding kissing scenes.”

Feng Ying'er guessed that he wanted to take the opportunity to clear her name, so she shook her head and continued the conversation:
“I went to Australia with my family when I was very young, and then I went back to Hong Kong to study. There were too many changes in my life, which made me feel a bit lost at the time. I didn’t understand what I really liked.”

"Who hasn't made mistakes when they were young? Maybe they mistook other feelings for love."

"I gradually realized later that I wasn't really a lesbian, but there were always people gossiping about it, and it was too late to explain. Now I just want to focus my energy on my work."

The reason for taking this opportunity to have Feng Ying'er clarify is that her career has reached a bottleneck.

The "lesbian" identity that she initially used to cover up and help her quickly gain fame has begun to drag her down, resulting in attacks from many haters and affecting her popularity.

After listening, Fan Wumian said to her:
"Oh, I was just thinking how interesting the expressions on the faces of Liu Yifei and Zhuang Muxi's fans would be if you managed to win them over. I was just overthinking it."

Feng Ying'er wrinkled her nose and continued:

"I didn't expect you to be so gossipy, boss. What are you planning to do after dinner? I'm off today, how about we get together and play mahjong?"

This was all arranged in advance, Fan Wumian snapped his fingers and said:
"Great idea! I'll ask around later who's free. We can get another free meal tonight, perfect!" (End of Chapter)